


Got Scars on Our Future Hearts (But We Never Look Back)

by under-latest-nostalgia (psionicTrickster)



Category: Descendants (2015), Disney - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Angst, F/F, Fanboy!Jay, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Lead Singer!Carlos de Vil, M/M, Secret Identity, side! Malvie, the Jaylos Punk Band Carlos Au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2018-04-22 17:53:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4844873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psionicTrickster/pseuds/under-latest-nostalgia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where Carlos keeps disappearing, Evie is scheming something, Mal knows and won’t say and Jay just wants to struggle about his new found crushes in peace.</p><p>Alternatively, Carlos is in a secret underground punk rock band and is totally crushing on Jay. Jay finds out about said secret band and finds the lead totally hot. Evie planned it all from the start and Mal likes watching her emotionally stunted male friends fumble about their love lives as much as she did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fell Outta Bed, Butterfly Bandage (But Don't Worry)

**Author's Note:**

> Work Title is from All Time Low’s Old Scars/Future Hearts.

Jay wasn’t sure why he was walking to this weird underground concert.

Actually, scratch that, Jay does know why he’s going to a weird underground concert, it’s because he’s been getting a lot more free time ever since Carlos started doing “stuff” with “some people” at “that place around the corner.” Which in short means it’s because Carlos has abandoned him for some secret meetings with secret friends. Probably some dorky science meeting with Auradon’s biggest nerds. (Jay totally wasn’t jealous or annoyed at the fact that Carlos was hanging out with some other crowd.  _Honest_.)

In any case, disappearing best friend notwithstanding, Evie’s been telling him of this new band that suddenly showed up in Auradon’s lesser talked about scenes and he’d heard whispers of their name in dark corners and hidden alleys so when Evie said she knew where they were going to hold their next show, Jay thought it was better than sitting around doing nothing.

So, here he was, in front of a rusting door in an alley that made his fingers twitch in a way that he hasn’t felt since he left the isle, waiting for a certain blue haired princess to show up like she promised to.

The click-clack of heels on pavement echo behind him and he turns to see Evie walking up in her pristine and princess-y way. Perfectly proper save for the glint of mischief in her eyes and the sly tilt in her smile. Honestly, if Jay didn’t think of her as a sister, he’d be chasing after her like a dog with treat in front of its face.

“Hey Jay,” She says with a grin, showing off straight teeth under stained-red lips, “Ready to go to your first illegal concert in Auradon?”

Jay laughs, “Illegal, huh? And they say Auradon’s only fun activity is tourney.”

“Tourney and balls you mean.” Evie grins,”But, nah, it’s not really illegal. More… frowned upon. I mean, you can see from the state of this place that it’s not really unimaginable to think we’re seeing an Isle band.”

Jay nods, “It’s weird to think you could find a place like this in Auradon, it makes my fingers twitch.”

Evie hums in response and knocks on the dirty door rhythmically. “Yeah. But then, I think all places have places like this, if you know where to look. Oh, you should put this on your face, by the way.”

Evie throws Jay a dark red bandanna and tugs on a silver eye mask that covered the upper half of her face.

jay manages to tie the bandanna on to cover the lower half of his face as the mail slot on the door slid open to reveal a pair of dark eyes. Evie just smiles at the person on the other side and the eyes light up in recognition. The slot slides shut again and the sound of multiple locks clicking open resound behind the door.

The door opens to reveal a boy that looks slightly older than them, brown hair slicked back to reveal streaks of red and a black bandanna covering the lower half of his face like how Jay covered his.

“V. You made it.” he says, voice clear under the bandanna, “You brought fresh meat?”

“This is… J.”Evie says with a smirk. “I finally got him to come with me.”

“Cool,” the boy says, “Enjoy the show dude, the Scarred Devils are amazing.”

Jay just nods and follows Evie as she walks to a ballroom half filled with people in masks, everyone smiling at each other and talking excitedly.

“So… that dude looked like he’s seen you a lot.” Jay says as they navigate through the crowd, having to squeeze through a few groups while others seemed like they knew Evie and made way for her as they gave her a friendly wave or greeting.

“Yeah,” Evie says while she waves to a girl with a black cat mask on, “A lot of the people who go see the Devils are pretty tight knit, none of talk to each other outside of concerts but when you’re a fan group of like 50 people you end up getting to know each other. Most of us know each other by nicknames. I told Redshift that you’re J, the letter. And I’m V. It took some time to get used to answering to V, hah, not that you’ll have a problem with that.”

Jay snorts, “Yeah it’ll be so difficult to shift from Jay to J.”

Evie just grins at him as they manage to reach the front of the crowd.

“It’s good that we got here pretty early, we managed to make barricade before it got really tough.” Jay’s not sure why but he felt a scheme underneath Evie’s voice, he just shrugs it off because what could Evie possible be scheming about in the middle of a concert.

Half an hour later, the crowd has gotten larger and Jay was feeling a little impatient and bored.

“Evie when is this go-”

Jay is cut off by a loud riff of guitar and suddenly the crowd gets wild. Jay’s being squished from all sides as fans try to push and squeeze through to barricade and Evie just laughs at him when he grimaces as a stray elbow jabs him in the side.

The lights shut off and just as suddenly as the riff that interrupted him and frenzied the crowd, a soft crooning voice echoed from the speakers, sending chills down Jay’s spine.

> _I’m coming apart at the seams,_

The pushing from the crowd and the heat from a room filled with a dozens of people disappear to the back of of Jay’s mind as the voice fills his head and resonates in him.

> _Pitching myself for leads in other people’s dreams_

Spot lights shine over the crowd before focusing onto center stage, right in front of Jay where a boy that looked a bit younger than Jay stood, the upper half of his face covered by a silvery gilded mask that highlighted sharp cheekbones and pink lips and his eyes were shut, showing off beautifully long eyelashes. Simply, the boy was beautiful. Jay could feel a flush coming to his cheeks as the boy above him sang into the mike, eyes scrunching up.

> _Like buzz buzz buzz,_
> 
> _Doc… there’s a hole where something was._
> 
> _Doc, there’s a hole where something was…_

The boys eyes open, the guitar picks up and a grin graces his face as he shouts into the crowd, “How’s my favourite crowd doing tonight?!”

The crowd around Jay screams their excitement and Jay can’t help but scream along as the grin on the lead’s face grows.

The boy laughs and throws his head back in adrenaline-fueled joy and Jay can’t help but want to store away the sound and image of lights shining off of the lead as the lighting makes the tuft of hair showing under the beanie the boy is wearing turn red.

The lead starts clapping over his head to the beat and the crowd follows along.

> _Fell outta bed, butterfly bandage, but don’t worry_

The rest of the night is a blur as Jay drowns in the voice of the lead and as the night ends the lead talks into the mic again, “This goes out to all of you for being the sexiest, most fucking _amazing_ crowd we’ve had. We’re the Scarred Devils and this is our last song!”

Jay’s sure he’s imagining it but a shiver ran down his spine when the lead scanned the crowd and seemed like he locked eyes with the thief.

As the songs ends, the singer reaches out over Jay’s head and towards the crowd, fans clamber over each other, reaching for the lead’s arms as Jay is stunned by the sudden image of the lead’s lean body stretching over him. He looks up just as the lead looks down and their eyes lock. Jay really does feel a shiver run down his spine this time and the flush already on his cheeks intensifies as the lead grins wickedly at him and sends him a wink before drawing back from the crowd, the lead’s hand brushing against Jay’s face as he did.

The band leaves the stage with a flourish as the song ends and Jay is left stunned at the barricade. Evie finds him after a few minutes and pulls him through the dwindling crowd into the cold night.

“So, what did you think?” she asks him as they start walking back to the dorms.

Jay’s voice is raw as he speaks, “ _Holy fucking shit, I think I’m in love._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also posted on [tumblr](http://under-latest-nostalgia.tumblr.com/post/129507118486/got-scars-on-our-future-hearts-but-we-never-look).
> 
> If it wasn’t obvious enough, Carlos is the lead. I tried to make it pretty vague to reflect Jay not realizing it’s Carlos. Anyways, I think this’ll only be a few chapters. Around 3-5, I think. Updates will be…. infrequent cuz I’m a lazy piece of shit and also college.
> 
> Song that Carlos sang as well as Chapter title is from Fall Out Boy’s Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes.


	2. The Truth Hurts Worse than Anything I Could Bring Myself to do (to You)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos is, unfortunately, an insecure nerd.

“This goes out to all of you for being the sexiest, most fucking amazing crowd we’ve had. We’re the Scarred Devils and this is our last song!” Carlos feels the adrenaline rushing in his veins as the crowd screams at him.

Carlos laughs and looks over the front row and freezes for half a second when he notices someone that looks unbelievably like his ~~_hot_~~ , _~~amazing~~_ , _~~incredible~~_ , dork of a roommate Jay.

Carlos just spins signalling their fiery-haired drummer to count off. The song goes off without a hitch and Carlos finds himself sneaking peeks at the Jay-lookalike that appeared in his show, he steels himself as he approaches the edge of the stage, and crouches down to reach across the crowd, right above the the other boy’s head. Carlos laughs as the crowd reaches out towards him before looking down and suddenly his breath hitches because that’s _definitely_ Jay and not just a look-a-like.

But then Carlos sees Jay freeze as well and something jumps in Carlos’ chest and he doesn’t know if it’s the adrenaline getting to his head but Carlos winks just as their eyes lock and the flush that rises on the older boy’s face is something that’s printed onto Carlos’ memories immediately. It encourages Carlos to reach out, just as he pulls back from the frantic crowd, and brush his fingers along  Jay’s cheek. Carlos laughs breathlessly and ends the set with a flourishing bow, running backstage with the rest of his bandmates.

“Great job out there guys!” Harriet yells, attitude as fiery as her curly mess of red hair, as the band runs breathlessly into their cramped dressing room. “Except for, of course, our crap rhythm guitarist.”

“Hey! I nailed at least 60% of those chords” her brother, Elliot, yells back with a laugh. “Unlike our _lead_.”

A scandalized gasp comes from behind Carlos, probably from their hooded  lead guitarist, “Excuse _me_? Three of those solos were on the spot and all of them were _amazing_.”

The banter continues as they all change from our sweat soaked stage outfits, the simple divider in the room creating a private space for the ones that weren’t comfortable changing in public.

Eventually, they split off after deciding on their next band practice, some heading to Auradon Prep and others going their own ways.

Soon, Carlos is at his dorm’s door and the last bit of the night comes back to him. He squeaks to himself, checking if all of his stage clothes are stuffed neatly into his bag and readying himself for an excuse to his late return to the dorm room.

As he pushes the door open he breathes a sigh of relief when he sees Jay snoring away, flopped onto the bed haphazardly and still wearing the outfit he had on during the concert. Carlos tosses his bag under his bed to keep his band stuff out of view before kicking his shoes off, curling up to an already asleep Dude and falling asleep.

* * *

The next day, Carlos wakes up to a familiar tune humming around the room. Carlos sings the song in his head and his eyes shoot open when he realizes its _his band’s_ song.

He turn over, casually trying to pretend he’s very very slowly waking up rather than extremely panicked by Jay singing his song. Carlos fake-yawns and tries to get his voice to sound sleepy as he mumbles, “Jay? What time is it….? Isn’t it Saturday…?”

“Carlos!” Jay says loudly with a grin, “It’s like 10AM ya night-owl. What were you doing last night? I didn’t see you in our room and I came back pretty late.”

“Oh, um, I was kinda engrossed in… a project…” Carlos mumbles, hoping that Jay doesn’t ask about any details. Luckily, it seems that Jay has filed Carlos’ lack of detailed answers under the effects of waking up before noon on the weekend.

“You’re too hard-working with your lil’ science projects ya nerd.” Jay says with a hint of affection in his voice as the elder rolled his eyes, “In any case have you heard of The Scarred Devils?”

Carlos sucks in a breath to calm down at the sudden mention of his band, “…Ahhh… I might’ve heard E talking about it a few times…?”

Jay just grins and almost looks like he’s lighting up as he talks about Carlos’ band, “Well I went to see them last night, and god, C, they were _amazing_ …”

Carlos feels a flush rising to his cheeks, he gets up quickly and scuttles to the bathroom to hide his face from the elder, “Go on, I just need to brush my teeth.”

Jay trails after him and starts rambling, “You’d love ‘em, C, they have a totally Isle feel to their music. Enough to make me think that one of ‘em might actually _be_ from the Isle.”

Carlos coughs at that, almost choking on the bubbling toothpaste froth in his mouth, luckily, Jay chooses to continue to ramble on as Carlos spits into the sink and washes his mouth.

“Their lead, his voice is just… so fucking amazing. He croons like he’s singing just for you and he screams like a madman and _god C,_ it was so _hot_ in the best way.”

Carlos barely chokes back the splutter that was about to come out of his mouth as his blush comes on full force. He grabs a towel quickly, scrubbing his face violently to try to hide the heat on his face. _Jay just called him hot_.

Jay apparently notices Carlos half-choking and pats his back, “You okay, C?”

“Uh, yeah… I’m fine.” Carlos says as he drops the towel into the laundry bin.

“You sure? You look a bit red, you’ve been staying up way too late lately.”

Carlos rolls his eyes and smiles fondly, “I’m fine, dude, probably cold from forgetting to sleep under the blankets.”

“Alright, in any case there’s tourney practice in a few so I’m gonna have to go soon.”

Carlos’ eyes widen in alarm, realizing that he wasn’t dressed or ready at all. “Wha-!”

“Don’t worry about it C, I already told coach you needed rest.” Jay says ruffling  Carlos’ hair. “Just go back to sleep or something.”

Carlos’ heart skips a beat as Jay grins at him and picks up his bag.

“Okay, gotta go now, seeya C.” Jay says with a wave.

“Okay, kick some ass out there Jay.” Carlos says back.

Jay laughs and winks, “You know it.”

Carlos falls back onto his bed as the older boy leaves and shuts the door to their shared dormroom.

“I must be dreaming, Dude,” Carlos says to the mutt nuzzling up to his face, “Jay just called me hot, oh my god, well me as in stage-me, but that’s something right?”

Carlos flips onto his belly and scratches behind the mutt’s ears, “I wonder if I should’ve told him… it might ruin the whole lead singer is hot image though…  wouldn’t want to affect our band’s career… not that Jay would ever like reveal us or anything…”

Dude barks at him and Carlos sighs, “Haha, you’re right lil’ Dude, I’m just making shit up because I probably want him to still see a part of me as…” Carlos flushes a little, “… hot.”

“Ughh…. who even told him?” Carlos mumbles as he tries to recall if Jay told him how Jay found Carlos’ band anywa-

“Evie!” Carlos yells with a groan, remembering Jay’s first few words.

“Yes Carlos?” Evie says as she opens the door to the dorm.

“Evie! What are you doing here?” Carlos yelps, lifting himself to a sitting position.

“Jay passed by and said you were awake so I figured we could go to town and grab Enchanted Lake: Return of the Fae King. Ben roped Mal into joining him in the transferee assembly so I couldn’t ask her to town.” Evie says sitting next to Carlos and crossing her ankles, “In any case, seeing as you didn’t realize I was already there, why were you yelling my name?”

“You told Jay about my band.”

Evie’s lips tilt in a small smile, “Maybe.”

“Augh! You totally did, Jay told me you did! I  mean, he told me that you told him about The Scarred Devils, not that it was my band, but still!” Carlos says.

Evie laughs lightly and wiggles an eyebrow at him, “Did Jay also tell you what he thought of the lead singer?”

Carlos squeaks and flushes before hiding his face with his hands, “Oh my god he talked to you about it?”

“Quite, he was very dazed and adoring about it.” Evie says with amusement in her voice. “Maybe it’ll push you to do something about that little crush of yours.”

Carlos turns redder, if that was possible, “He doesn’t like _me,_ E, he… likes… you know… stage-me.”

At that Evie frowns slightly, “Are you two not the same thing?”

“Well… kinda but… stage-me is more confident and laid back, you know?” Carlos says with a huff, finally putting his hands down, “More like… Jay I guess? In any case, if Jay finds out stage-Carlos is just his buddy Carlos, he wouldn’t find me…. hot… anymore.”

“Hmm…”, Evie raises another perfectly trimmed brow at that.

“Ugh, there’s no point telling him in any case,” Carlos mumbles, “He’ll just be disappointed and I’d rather not ruin the band’s image for him, y’know?”

Carlos sighs, “Let’s just go grab Return of the Fae King.”

Evie hums in thoughtless agreement, mind elsewhere as Carlos gets up to get dressed properly.

Soon the two of them leave the dorm with Carlos pushing away the thought that Jay could ever find usual-Carlos hot and Evie thinking about the million possibilities she could push this situation.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I posted this on my tumblr: [here](http://under-latest-nostalgia.tumblr.com/post/136508144911/got-scars-on-our-future-hearts-but-we-never-look) <3
> 
> Chapter title from I've Got All This Ringing in My Ears and None on My Fingers by Fall Out Boy.


	3. There's No Use in Trying to Get You Off My Mind

Jay rips off his arm-guards and runs a hand through his sweat-soaked hair, letting the bun he kept his long hair in loose as he went along. Tourney practice had just finished and the rush of adrenaline in his blood was slowly fading as he and his teammates jogged to the locker rooms to change out of their damp uniforms.

He peels his jersey off as Ben pats him on the back, “Good job out there, Jay. You’re getting better with communicating with the team lately.”

Jay grins as he runs the damp uniform over his body to soak up as much sweat as possible, “Thanks dude. I try.”

Ben smiles before turning to his own locker, “Carlos doing okay? I heard you told coach that he seemed too tired to practice today.”

“Yeah, I think he’s good. Nerd needs to learn how to limit himself. Didn’t see him come into our dorm last night so figured he got sucked into another one of his nerd projects.” Jay smiles faintly and rolls his eyes at nothing as he talks of Carlos’ habits. “I figured letting him sleep a bit more and not push him to exercise today should do him good.”

Ben nods and turns to Jay raising a hand, “Cool, well, see ya later dude.”

Jay grins and gives him a high five as Ben hits the showers.

Jay turns to his own locker, stuffed with a few extra jerseys and his duffel bag. He opens up the bag to grab a towel and shuts the locker door before hitting the showers as well.

* * *

Jay leaves the locker rooms with his hair in a bun to keep it from dripping onto his leather vest. (Evie would kill him for “ruining perfectly good leather, really Jay.”)

Jay muses over what to do now. Usually, he had Carlos to bounce ideas off of but seeing as he left the nerd to rest for a bit, Jay didn’t have anyone to mess around campus with. Jay walks around the campus aimlessly, debating with himself on where to go. On the isle, where to spend time was never a problem or a question to think about, Jay would either be with his friends or working for his dad, sometimes both at the same time. Now that Jay’s in Auradon, half- three-fourths- okay, like nine-tenths of his usual pastimes were either frowned upon or… well outright illegal.

Eventually, Jay starts to get hungry and decides that going to town for lunch wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe he’d get to try a few new things if he was alone instead of in a group of recently-rehabilitated villain kids that at least 65% of Auradon was still wary of.

As Jay window shops down a small street of knick knack stores, fingers itching in habit, he spots something on a mannequin head, a dark red beanie with a small white bone stitched to the side. Jay laughs a little to himself, thinking that Carlos would love the hat. He enters the small store to the surprise of the tiny dark blonde haired clerk in the store. The clerk squeaks at him when he asks how much the beanie costs, something suspiciously like “oh beast, help me,” before mumbling that it costs two dollars and fifty cents.

The clerk hovers near Jay as he nods and picks up the beanie, “I’ll take it.”

The clerk squeaks again, a bit more fearful this time before Jay realizes his bad word choice, “Ah, sorry, I meant, I’ll take it as in I’m gonna buy it and take it with me.”

The clerk sighs, probably in relief, before leading Jay to the counter and stepping behind a fairly old cash register. Jay’s fingers tighten on the few gold pieces he holds in his hand to pay for the beanie and the clerk looks nervous when he starts to take the coins but Jay breathes in and loosens his grip around the money.

The clerk gives him a small, still-nervous, smile as Jay takes the beanie and stuffs it into his bag and, with a wave to the clerk, leaves the store with a pleased expression.

Jay hums as he continue down the road, thinking about how happy Carlos with be to get a gift, one that he _bought._ Jay wonders if the younger would be proud that Jay’s actually sticking to the no-illegal dealings rule, fighting the itch under his skin that creeps up every now and then.

Jay continues down the clean alleyway, squinting as he steps into the sunlight. It’s still a bit strange to him, how _bright_ it is outside.

“Jay!” a voice calls to him from his left and Jay turns to see Evie and Carlos. Jay breaks out a grin, wondering if the light always gave Carlos’ platinum curls a faint halo making him look as opposite from his name as possible. It’s a little hypnotic, Jay thinks to himself, squinting to see the faint glow surrounding the smaller boy-

“Um- Jay, you alright?”

Jay blinks and sees Carlos looking at him with a vaguely worried face. “Um, yeah, sorry just… really bright out here.”

At the edge of Jay’s vision, he sorta registers Evie rolling her eyes and smirking but he doesn’t notice fully because Carlos is talking again and stepping closer.

“Yeah, it’s weird sometimes huh?” the younger says, frowning as he swings his backpack around and ruffles through it, “Um, here, I think they’ll fit.”

Jay blinks and makes a bit of a soft strangled noise as Carlos steps even closer, close enough that Jay can feel the younger’s breath on his chin as Carlos gets on the tip of his toes to place a pair of sunglasses on Jay’s face.

Carlos steps back with an unsure smile and Jay can’t help but smile back, “Thanks, Carlos.”

Jay has to take a second to breath, disguising it as adjusting the newly acquired pair of glasses on his face before speaking, “So, what’re you guys doing here?”

Evie lifts a bag she’s carrying and smiles, “We got the sequel to Enchanted Forest. I bet it’s going to be _amazing_.”

“Fuck’s sake, what a bunch of nerds, my jock rep is dying every second I spend with you guys.” Jay says with a dramatic hand gesture. 

Carlos snorts and Jay grins at the happy expression on the younger’s face, “I dunno Jay, I think you’re killing it yourself with the theatrics.”

Jay just laughs and punches the younger lightly on his arm, “Oh shut up.”

“Anyway,” Evie says with a smile, “we’re about to head to a cafe for lunch, you wanna come Jay?”

“Aw, hell yeah, E,” Jay says, remembering the reason he came to town in the first place, “I’m starving. Haven’t eaten since practice.”

Evie laughs, “What could’ve possible distracted you Jay? Usually you’d be neck deep in chocolate by now.”

Jay laughs as well and is about to tell them about the beanie Jay got for Carlos, but can’t seem to say it in front of Evie. 

“Must’ve been more tired from practice than I thought.” He says instead with a nervous smile.

Carlos loops his arm around Jay’s and gives the elder a comforting pat, “Aw it’s okay, Jay, at least you got these guns.”

Jay gives a startled laugh and feels something warm bubbling inside, “Thanks C, that was smooth as silk.”

Carlos pulls away with his cheeks reddening, something Jay thinks looks quite… intriguing on the boy, and shrugs, “You must be rubbing off on me.”

Evie rolls her eyes at the two boys she calls her best friends, “All right boys, stop making moon eyes at each other, this princess wants her Blueberry Stripe Parfait and your flirting is not keeping me away from it.”

Carlos sputters but Jay just freezes, a strange sensation of warmth creeping up his neck as Carlos tries to protest Evie’s words. Evie just laughs and tugs the two boys by their wrists, Carlos still unsuccessfully trying to speak as Jay is quite literally pulled from his flushed and dazed staring.

They all end up in a tree-covered patio of a cafe, Evie lounging on her seat like a sunbathing cat, gracefully picking at her parfait as she watched her two awkward boys fighting over macaroon flavors.

“-and I’m telling you, _red velvet_ is the best.” Carlos tells Jay with a threatening edge to his voice.

Jay slams a hand on the table good-naturedly, “Maybe for a sugar elf like you, but everyone knows dark chocolate swirl is where its at.”

“Oh, yeah? We’ll see about that.” Carlos leans over the table and under Jay’s head to take a bite out of the macaroon in Jay’s hand.

Jay manages to hold back a yelp and instead drops back into his chair as Carlos leans back as well with a shit-eating grin, “You could be on to something Jay, but nah red velvet still tops the list.”

Evie looks has a cheshire cat grin on her face as Jay awkwardly tries and fails to come up with a reply. Luckily, Jay is saved by the sound of barking from Carlos’ phone that the younger boy jumps to get. “Oh, shit, I gotta go.”

Jay snaps out of it and manages to ask, “Oh, um, where ya headed, C?”

Carlos looks embarrassed as he gathers his things, “Ah… just a project that has a schedule so I gotta head back.”

“I could co-”

“Alright! See you later, C.” Evie says suddenly, cutting off Jay’s offer to escort the younger, “I need someone to help with my bags so you’ll stay, right Jay?”

“Um… sure…” Jay says instead, Evie was after all, his best friend as well and he’s sure Carlos could take care of himself.

Carlos looks relieved and stuff his mouth with another macaroon before cheerfully waving goodbye.

“Wait! Carlos!” Jay yells before he has a chance to think about it.

Carlos looks back, confused as Jay jogs up to him.

“Hm?” he mumbles through a mouth full of cookies.

Jay can feel a blush coming on as he takes out the beanie and shoves it onto Carlos’ unruly hair.

“Here, made me think of you.” He mumbles.

Carlos’ eyes widen and he swallows before giving Jay the most dazzling smile to have ever existed in Jay’s life, “This is so sweet Jay, thanksomuch.”

Jay flushes and chooses to slug the other in the shoulder before turning back so Carlos can’t see his probably very red face, “Whatever, just head to your nerd project already.”

He hears Carlos laugh and the sounds of footsteps jogging away.

He sits back down where Evie is giving him an even bigger grin and he just sticks out his tongue at her, “Oh shut up, E.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sweats* hello, it's been like a year ha... ha... *sweats more* I do want to finish this fic, but I'm not making promises on the updates OTL. Thank you for reading! As always, I'm on tumblr @ under-latest-nostalgia 
> 
> chapter title adapted from Girl of the Year by FM Static :>


	4. You are the Taste of Something Sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aka. flustered Jay, best Jay

Jay ends up saying goodbye to Evie as she heads back to Auradon Prep while he decides to wander around town a bit more. He looks up the side of a building, an urge building up deep in his muscles and he jumps up to grab the side of a building and pulls himself up. He climbs until he’s on top of the tiled roof, looking over the streets of Auradon.

The buildings were much higher here than on the Isle, but the height means next to nothing to the rush of adrenaline and the feel of the wind on Jay’s face as he runs across rooftops, a nice nostalgic feeling rushing through his bones, reminding him of the not completely terrible times on the Island after the four became what constituted as friends. He remembers Mal instructing him on where to go and what to steal, Evie distracting store clerks and customers alike, and Carlos beside him, snatching goods from racks and running off laughing.

He remembers when they started team-thieving, teaching Carlos how to really run and make his energy last, how to climb walls like it was no big deal and how to drop from a 20 foot wall without breaking a limb.

The world blurs as Jay runs and runs and runs, until his legs ache and his lungs burn. He is breathless and laughing as he slows to a jog on a building that doesn’t seem as nice as the buildings surrounding Auradon prep. He stands on the edge and basks in adrenaline and the silence of an empty street.

He stays there for a while, time flowing around him but not phasing him. He sits on the edge, swinging his feet out and letting them hang on the side of the building.

At some point, footsteps echo faintly, breaking the silence that covered the street like a blanket. Jay looks over to see a boy wearing a simple black beanie walking under his feet. Something about him is familiar but Jay can’t really place it until the boy turns his head at just the right angle for jay to see a very familiar silver mask on his face while a plain white bandanna covers the lower half of his face. Jay gasps and the singer below him looks up suddenly. Jay waves and pulls out a handkerchief from his pocket, tying it around his face to respect the rules of the band as he jumps off the roof to land on the street below.

“Shit, hey, fuck,” Jay says as he trips a bit on the landing, nervous in front of the owner of the most beautiful voice Jay has ever heard, “Um, you’re the singer for the Scarred Devils, right?”

The boy nods and takes out a notepad from nowhere, scribbling something and turning it over to Jay.

> _Hey, yeah! You were at our last concert, right? Sorry, can’t speak, resting my voice for later._

Jay’s a bit disappointed when he sees that he can’t hear the other’s voice but he grins at the fact that the other remembered him from his first and only concert. “Yeah, and it’s okay, wouldn’t wanna ruin that perfect voice.”

Jay almost wants to slap himself for mooning so obviously in front of the object of his mooning, instead he just smiles and bears with it as he hoped whatever the other was writing wasn’t in the family of ‘ _wow, what an awkward loser_.’

> _You think my voice is perfect? Well aren’t you the sweetest._

Jay almost sighs in relief that he didn’t find it weird. “No I’m not, it really is the most beautiful thing, it’s got so much soul and power to it. The way you deliver your songs just strikes me to the core you know?”

And there he goes again, with the obvious awkward mooning. Fuck he has to stop this.

> _Damn dude, you really know how to make someone blush. If you keep this up, I might think you’re courting me._

Jay blushes hard at the message. “Um- um-, well, maybe, I mean. Not like that, I barely know you really. Ohmygod. You’re teasing me aren’t you? Can we like, maybe talk about something else? Oh wait, you said something about later right? There’s a concert?”

> _Yep. Cute change of subject. What, the idea of courting me that bad? Guess a handsome dude’s got some high standards._

“N-nothing like that!” Jay says immediately, “I mean, you’re really hot too from like what I see which is, not a lot right now, but on stage! You were like, so amazing. Fuck okay rambling again.”

The other boy laughs softly before getting into Jay’s space, right beside his cheek. He feels something being pushed into his hand and the cloth against his cheek is shifted, replaced by a pair of soft lips pressing a small kiss against his face.

Jay takes a sharp breath, feeling his face heat up even more as the singer pulls back, gives him a wave and a grin before turning and running off.

Jay’s a bit dazed as he looks down and sees a piece of paper in his hand and blushes even more as he reads it.

> _Concert @ 184 Dwarfridge Road. 8PM. See you around, lover ; )_

* * *

 

“EVIE, I NEED YOU TO TELL ME IF THIS NOTE IS FLIRTING WITH ME.”

Jay ended up sprinting frantically back to Auradon Prep, rushing into the girls’ dorm and slamming open Mal and Evie’s room.

“I don’t think paper can flirt, Jay.” Mal says drily from her position on the floor in front of Evie who was braiding Mal’s hair.

“Oh, fuck you Mal.” Jay says back with no real malice.

Mal smirks and gestures at Jay to hand over the note, her eyebrow raising slightly as she read it. “My my, are you turning into a groupie, Jay?”

Mal laughs and Evie looks over her shoulder and starts laughing at the message.

“Oh my god, is that, from the singer?” Evie says in between peals of laughter.

Jay snatches the note back hastily, “Yeah, yeah, shut up, so you agree that I'm not hallucinating the lead flirting with me, thanks.”

Mal snorts and Evie slaps her on the head fondly without any real strength.

“Hey!”

“Don’t make fun of the dumb Jock, dear.” Evie says sweetly, an undercurrent of mischief coloring her words.

“Are you insulting me, E?” Jay says, feigning offense.

“If you aren’t sure, then it’s the truth isn’t it?” Evie says back with a cheeky grin.

Mal rolls her eyes but settles in below Evie, “So are you going?”

“I mean, I should, right?” Jay says, a bit frantically, "Unless, wait, is this like a weird artsy booty call? Oh my god what if it is? What if it _isn’t_? Oh my god, what do I do.”

“Calm down dumbass.” Mal drawls lazily.

“How can I be calm?” Jays says back, doing exactly the opposite of what Mal told him to do. “An angel with the voice blessed by the gods has invited me somewhere. How. Can. I. Be. Ca- FUCK OW MAL WHAT THE FUCK.”

Jay drops onto the bed with a hand to the back of his head wear Mal had managed to hit him with a ball that was laying around.

“Shut up for a minute.” Mal says calmly, “He’s inviting you to watch his concert, not to marry him. Go, have fun, make flirty eyes at him. If he notices you, he notices you. If he asks you to come with him, come with him if you want. Don’t talk yourself in circles, Jay.”

"Mal's right, Jay." Evie says, "Just go, have fun at the concert. Do what you usually do and don't think about it too much."

Jay huffs out a breath, "I feel both comforted and insulted."

Evie laughs, "That's my goal for every consultation, I have to keep at least some of my villain reputation intact."

Mal laughs as well, "That's my girl."

"I feel like I should say thanks, but also that I shouldn't." Jay says as he gets up, "So I guess I'll see y'all later."

"Good luck on your not date!" Evie says cheerfully.

Jay blushes and slams the door on the sound of the girls' laughter at his embarrassment

* * *

 

A couple of hours later, Jay stands in front of his and Carlos' shared closet. The ex-prince of thieves encountering a problem he usually never frets over.

What. Is. He. Going. To. Wear??

Jay slumps onto the door of the closet and slams his forehead into the wood in frustration.

"This is stupid." Jay mumbles under his breath, "It's like Evie says, it's not even a date or anything."

Every single clothing item seems either too dull or too flashy and he really should care less but the beautiful figure on a stage was suddenly a real breathing person he semi-talked to and that made it infinitely harder because he couldn't completely write off that the front man would never notice him.

"UGH." Jay groans loudly, frustrated at the situation and himself for caring that much. He'd be in a crowd of dozens, it's more likely than not that his outfit wouldn't be in any sort of attention at all. “Hey C, what do you thi- Oh.”

Jay realizes Carlos wasn't back yet and something pulls at his stomach. Worry. Probably. As much as Jay knows Carlos can handle himself (the Isle would give you that if nothing else), Jay can't help but wonder where the younger boy went and how he was doing. He was never out so long without at least one of them being with him and since he saw Evie and Mal earlier the smaller boy was definitely alone. (Or he had found better friends but Jay definitely didn't want to think about that.)

Jay growls, shakes his head and decides to just take a random top and his usual loose pants. Carlos can take care of himself, Jay repeats in his head. He grabs the red bandanna that he's going to wear over his face as well as a hair tie to keep his hair up. Sweat, jumping and loose hair do not mix well as evidenced by his many, many years on the Isle.

He changes quickly, and decides to march out before he rethinks any single piece on his body for the nth time. (Or thinks about setting off as a one man search party for his roommate.)  
  
Soon enough, he's on the stone paved streets of Auradon, a couple of students and shopkeepers mingling around in the night. In the nightlife of Auradon Jay can see a hint of the life he lived on the Isle. As much as nobility and royalty and prim-properness is practiced here, everyone can have a bit of a rebellious side to them. Jay can see unease in the eyes of those who are new to alcohol harder than fancy wines and adrenaline in the steps of those feeling the rush of rebellion in a life that is normally painted in pastel colors.

Jay gets to the door of the address written on the note. It's in the middle of a wide but dark alley, enough space in the road that concert goers wouldn't pile up next to the door and reveal the location quite so easily. He can spot them. The people here for the devils and not just passing through. There's a look in their eyes full of an excitement that Jay doesn't see often in the hallways of Auradon High. They keep away from the door as Jay approaches it and pulls up his bandanna.  
He knocks twice.

A creak and the scratchy sound of wood sliding on wood echoes softly in the alley as a pair of eyes appear on the doorway. "Who's it.”

"It's J. I was with V before?" Jay says, trying to keep any doubt away from his voice.

"Oh, yeah, I remember you." a vaguely familiar voice says, slightly muffled by the door.

The door opens just enough for Jay to squeeze through and he's met with a familiar head of red-streaked hair.

"Never got to introduce m'self formally, did I?" the man says, stretching out his hand, "Redshift."

Jay takes the offered hand and shakes it once, a bit too formal for his taste, but then again as much as it seemed like the concert was held on the Isle, the attendees were still mostly Auradonians born and raised. "Cool, nice ta' meet ya. E-r V told me before."

He manages to catch himself before saying Evie's real name as he releases Redshifts hand.

"Oh, really, huh." Redshift says thoughtfully, "V's not really the type to chat with us after events so I'm guessing you're actually pretty close with her on the outside?"

Jay extrapolates quickly that the outside meant the world outside this scene. He also very suddenly wants to smash his head into a wall for revealing information not only on him and Evie but also their personal lives.

His discomfort must have shown up more visibly than he thought because the other guy immediately raises his hands in the universal gesture for 'A'right I'm backing off.'

"Sorry dude, guess that was over the line. I shouldn't ask too much about the outside."

Jay nods, his nerves a bit frayed. Information is too precious on the Isle and this scene reminded him too much of his previous home for him to be comfortable in any way when a potential weakness or a vulnerability was revealed so openly to a stranger.

Jay steps forward and Redshift gives him a wide berth, showing Jay the man meant no harm. Jay's fight or flight instinct was rearing to go but Jay knew it would do noone any good if he started a brawl here. Jay cracks his knuckles to calm himself down as he pushes his way to a reasonably close spot. Close enough that the stage was a clear sight, far enough that Jay's pretty sure if he's noticed again then it would be a very deliberate action.

The crowd thickens as time goes on and more people trickle in. It reminds Jay of the free markets and night raves on the Isle. His fingers itch. A part of him wishes he took someone with him. Evie was already too invested in this. Mal would make fun of him good naturedly. Maybe Carlos. Carlos seemed to calm him when he was on the edge. Tourney was easier to handle and he had better control of his aggression when Carlos was there to ground him. They'd squabble and fight and wrestle and Carlos would never back down even when he was outweighed and overpowered. It kept Jay tethered and reminded him that his Isle self would always be part of him and maybe that's okay cause Carlos could bring him down if it got too much.

Thinking about his friend had managed to settle the itch in Jay's fingers and simultaneously make Jay blush. For fuck's sake who even goes on long tirades about their best friend? Jay does. Apparently. Jay's glad he has the bandana to hide his face. It would be pretty embarrassing for strangers to be staring at him as he went red for seemingly no reason.

Suddenly, the lights dim, fog descends onto the stage and the screeching noise of a distorted guitar chord resounds through the room and sinks into Jay's bones. The noise of a chattering crowd halts into a standstill for barely a second before screams from every direction echo into the air, chanting the Scarred Devils’ name.

Jay's heart is bent on shooting out of his chest as a red spotlight descends centerstage and the band rises from the fog like devils from hell. Just like the multi colored lights flash across the room, highlighting the sharp cheekbones of the lead and the lines of the masks across all their faces. Jay's breath catches just like the first time he saw them.

The lead scans the crowd as if looking for something and speaks with the same melodic voice, “How's everyone doing tonight?”

The crowd screams.

The lead catches Jay's eye, smiles as he locks Jay's gaze onto his like an enchantment Jay didn't realize was cast onto him. The lead raises a hand and points to him, the people around him scream but Jay's paralyzed as a shiver runs through his spine under the lead's gaze.

“This one's for someone special in the crowd.” The lead croons softly into the mic still keeping Jay's gaze, “You know who you are.”

“I think y'all know this since we just put our own spin to it, so sing with me.” He winks, grins and shuts his eyes as the start of the song rings out on the guitarist's strings and the crowd screams even louder. Jay's heart is loud in his ears, breath in his throat as the first few notes echo like the a spell on the crowd.

> _There's a calm surrender. To the rush of day._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from All Time Low's Holly (Would You Turn Me On?)  
> Ay, look at that it didn't take me a year to get a new chapter out :D  
> Thanks to my new beta justme133 on tumblr! <3


	5. I Won't Forget the Good Times

Carlos laughed as he ran off stage, out of breath and hyped up on the adrenaline of a gig.

“Goodness sake, Snowflake,” their bassist, Beck, says as they pull off the plague doctor inspired carnival mask and ruffling their dark hair, “Really pulling for some groupies, huh?”

“Oh shut up Crow.” Carlos replies, using their stage names in case the mics weren't off yet.“You know I've only got eyes on one.”

“And what a tragedy that is.” Elliot comes in with a flourish and a wink, shaking his sweat soaked hair, dropping the motorcycle helmet he used on the couch and sitting beside it with a groan. “You've got too pretty a voice to get all hung up on one person now.”

Harriet comes in and smacks her brother up the head before squeezing in beside him, “As if you'd actually go for it if he was available you dork.”

Elliot rolls his eyes, “I'm trying to teach you, dear sister. Just because I don't want or need any doesn't mean you have to live your life in constant awkward pining.”

“Oh shut up!” Harriet replies, blowing a raspberry in her twin’s direction.

“Still, I can't believe our lil baby singer had the guts to do it.” Kali replies as she gingerly places her guitar on the stand.

Carlos groans, “You act as if I pushed him against a wall and made out with him- “

“And what an image that would've made.” Elliot cuts in cheekily.

“ -thanks Lio- as I was saying, I just dedicated to an anonymous person, I didn't even say his name.” Carlos finishes, exasperated.

“Maybe you should.” Beck says with a grin that reminded Carlos a tad too much of the Isle. “We could set up a club to go with our gig next time. Have you corner the unsuspecting Jock as the party dwindles.”

Beck waggles their eyebrows suggestively and grabs Kali's hand and pulls her into a dip. “Imagine, you, him, bright light, a dark corner.”

Kali laughs as Beck pulls her up into a twirl. Kali sighs dreamily for effect, “You whisper in his ear, and before you know it-”

“BOOM, “ they say together, as Kali extends her hand in a dramatic pose, “He's all flustered and you have him right where you want him.”

They bow dramatically and the twins clap lightly.

“Take him home, maybe ravage him, or the other way around, whichever,” Elliot adds with an eyebrow waggle of his own, “And happily ever after happens.”

Carlos shakes his head and groans into a facepalm, “I regret telling you all about him.”

Beck laughs, “Telling us? Dear, don't pretend you had a choice.”

Carlos sighs and shakes his head, “Ugh, whatever.”

Kali takes pity on him and pats his head, “Don't worry about it too much. But I do think it's a good idea to invite him to our next gig and have it in a place where you can talk to him instead of having to leave immediately.”

Carlos sighs, less exasperated and more defeated, “Yeah, you're right. You sure we can pull that off?”

Beck and the twins have what you can only describe as Cheshire cat grins on their faces, Kali shrugs and looks at him with an expression that said _well, what can ya do?_

Carlos can already feel the regret climbing up his spine.

* * *

 

Carlos gets back in a simple shirt and some sweatpants. He heads to Evie and Mal’s dorm room. He gives two sharp knocks on the door and out opens to a widely grinning blue haired princess.

“A note, Carlos?” Evie says with a sly smile, “How old fashioned of you.”

“Ugh,” Carlos grunts as he walks in and lets himself fall on one of the beds, “I would've thought the teasing would end at my bandmates.”

Evie somehow snorts like royalty, “Oh please, C, our resident badass wannabees wouldn't have even touched the tip of the teasing iceberg.”

“Honestly, this is the _most_ fun Auradon drama I've seen.” Mal says from her bed with a grin that reminds Carlos of her mom. “Ironically the main characters are VKs, but then again we _are_ the most fun in general.”

Carlos sighs, wanting to steer the conversation away from his train wreck of a romantic conquest. “Beck’s planning an afterparty for the next gig. Thought you guys might want in on it.”

Carlos doesn’t mention that it’s planned deliberately to move his love life forward but he figures he deserves a bit of reprieve before Evie and Mal find out eventually. He sees Evie with a twinkle in her eye and Carlos already knows he’s going to either owe Evie his soul for the rest of his life or regret this with the force of a thousand dying suns. (Okay, so he’s being a tad dramatic. Don’t judge him, Evie’s plans are always over the top since she, and he quotes, “missed out on the prime of my party planning youth because of a certain half fairy.”)

Mal is giving Carlos the stink eye for planting a party planning thought in Evie’s head and turns to face the blue haired princess with a neutral expression.

“Evie…” she starts cautiously as the other girl turns to her excitedly.

“Mal…” Evie says with a sly smile. “You’d do anything for your best girl right?”

“Don’t you drag my affection for you into this!” Mal says, shaking her head violently and giving Evie what could only be called a childish pout. Not that Carlos would ever say that to Mal’s face.

Evie laughs and pats Mal’s cheek. “You know you can’t turn me down, sweet pea.”

Mal growls playfully, wraps her arms around Evie and pulls her down onto the bed. Evie shrieks with laughter, playfully struggling against Mal’s grip, too distracted and breathless from laughing to really try.

Carlos rolls his eyes at the two and decides that it was his time to leave, he says a quick goodbye the girls won’t hear and hops off the bed and out of the room.

Carlos pads silently to their room, a habit that sometimes freaks the Auradon kids out. Heeled shoes aren't exactly quiet and on the Isle quiet is a lifestyle. Although, to think of it, Evie _has_ perfected the art of stiletto sneaking.

Carlos gets to their room and he opens the door, the hinges creak and Carlos’ jaw locks instinctively. He grimaces at the habit as he loosens his jaw. He wonders when he'll be able to stop locking up at the minutest sound when he's alone, reacting like he's still afraid of a slap to the face for existing.

(He guesses it would be when he actually feels that it's ok for him to exist.)

He opens the door wide and sees Jay sitting up on his own bed, eyes alert and muscles coiled like snake readying to strike. Jay visibly relaxes into a smile when he sees Carlos. A part of Carlos is relieved that he wasn’t the only one with remnants of the Isle in him, the other part is angry that someone as precious as Jay had to live with the Isle marking him.

“Sup, Pup.” Jay says, raising a hand lazily, heavily contrasting the attack-mode he was in earlier.

“Hey, Jay.” Carlos says as he closes the door, walks over to his bed and sits down.

“You alright, C?” Jay says with a worried tone, Carlos looks up in surprise and is startled by the pouty look on Jay’s face, “You look exhausted.”

Adoration bubbles in Carlos’ chest, he couldn’t believe Jay would bother worrying about him, Carlos kicks off his shoes in an effort to get his mind busy and keep his tone light. “Uh- I-I’m fine. New project is’all, keeping us up.”

Carlos looks at his abandoned shoes like they’re the most interesting thing and Jay frowns, worry lines deepening before shaking his head.

“Oh, that’s cool.” Jay says with a strained smile Carlos misses, “Just… don’t go around collapsing.”

Carlos feels a blush starting, which is honestly the stupidest thing seeing as he sung the dude a love song just a couple of hours earlier. Carlos looks up and smiles at Jay, “Thanks, Jay. Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I can handle it better than the Auradon kids.”

“Course you can.” Jay says with a snort, “You'd be hurtin’ the VK pride if you didn't.”

Carlos laughs, it was nice to be able to banter with Jay like this. It's been awhile since they weren't both either asleep or busy. That afternoon was actually the first time in a couple of months that they really got to hang out together and now that the rush of the show was fading from Carlos’ veins, he realized that he really missed the older boy. Even on the Isle where Mal and Jay were more frequently out thieving together whilst Carlos and Evie worked on the logistics side of things. When it came down to it, the moment the four of them were in a room, Jay had managed to squeeze into whatever makeshift beanbag Carlos was on, chattering idly about his thoughts and Evie was off to sweet talk Mal into whatever plan she had come up with to get whatever thing she wanted. Honestly, Jay's existence was entwined into Carlos’ life and if it were up to the younger, it would ne-

“Earth to Carlos.”

Carlos blinks as his train of thought stops suddenly. “Huh?”

Jay looks at him with a mixture of fondness and amusement, “Off to lala land again?”

Carlos shrugs and smiles, “Just thinking about how it's been awhile since we got to hang out together. Just us.”

Jay looks startled, mouth opening and closing a couple of times like a fish out of water.

Carlos laughs, embarrassed, “Cat got your tongue?”

Jay looks like how speechless feels before he snaps out of it, “W-wait, are you saying you _want_ us to go out- hang, hang out together?”

“Course,” Carlos says, “Just ‘cause I've got new friends doesn't mean they're higher on the list than you, bro.”

Jay looks taken aback before giving a grin that Carlos has figured made every vaguely interested person swoon on the spot. Carlos manages not to through sheer willpower and built up tolerance over the years.

“Hah, of course I am.” Jay says with faux confidence, “Best bros for life dude.”

They both go quiet.

Jay looks down and speaks up, “I just figured, you'd be better off with the Auradon kids.”

Carlos frowns and sits beside the older boy, nudging the other's shoulder, “Hey, I might not be the most evil but we're VKs for life, right? Ain't nobody but us could really get it.”

Jay grins, “Cause we’re rotten.”

Carlos laughs at the old phrase, “To the core.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I made this Future Hearts just came out and now Young Renegades is out and I would like to apologize how fuckin slow I am thanks guys. <3  
> hmu @ under-latest-nostalgia.tumblr.com


	6. It Ends Tonight

It’s just a few days after Jay and Carlos’ heart-to-heart that Jay sees his favorite singer around the streets of Auradon again. He accidentally bumps into the singer on a sidestreet that Jay likes to take on days when the city is crowded and he feels his fingers twitch and his eyes wander to all the easy pickings walking cluelessly down the pristine streets.

Jay was surprised to see an Auradonian walking the narrower streets but seeing the silvery mask and flashy outfit made him realize that he was suddenly face-to-face with his crush-idol-unknown-romantic-prospect in a place where there weren’t a dozen other people watching.

“Woah-hey.” Jay says, instinctively gripping the shoulders of the other to steady both of them.

The singer looks up in surprise, apparently not realizing Jay was here the same way Jay didn’t realize the other was. The singer smiles, sweet and very unlike his usual stage personality. It catches Jay off-guard and his already unsteady heartbeat speeds up.

“I- uh, didn’t expect to see you here.” Jay says, slightly nervously. It is the first time he’s been able to interact with the singer ever since the other dedicated  _ an entire song _ to him. He thinks. Probably.  _ Oh god what if it wasn’t directed at hi- _

The singer grins, clapping his hands excitedly.

Jay shifts his weight awkwardly, wondering what he should do. “So- ah- headed off to another practice?”

The other nods before fumbling with his pockets. He pulls out a drab black phone. Simple, the kind that even Auradonians would deem disposable.

“Sorry, gotta rest my voice.” A mechanical voice with a foreign uppity twang says from the phone.

Jay’s a bit surprised but he just takes it in stride, “No problem. So what’s a pretty guy like you doing in a place like this?”

A overly flirtatious tone infects his voice. He cringes inwardly but his Isle instincts keep his face from flinching, instead flowing into a lazy smile.

The other laughs with a puff of his breath and starts tapping on the phone, “You guessed earlier. Practice.”

“Oh- yeah. I guess I did.” Jay says, smile falling slightly. “Um…”

“Did you like the song?” the phone says before the conversation could drop and turn awkward.

Jay blushes, remembering the song he so vehemently tried to convince himself wasn’t for him. “Um yeah, it was… really beautiful. Ah- you did really well.”

The singer smiles happily, clapping his hands together. It’s honestly very adorable and reminds Jay a bit of the sweet disposition of his best friend, Carlos.

A chirp resounds from the phone in the singer’s hand which startles Jay from his thoughts. Fortunately, the flinch goes unnoticed by the masked singer who was reading the text message that came.

“Gotta go, band mates are looking for me.” the phone says as the singer gives him a smile and a wave. “Are you going to the concert later?”

Jay fidgets with his hands and bites his lip, worrying that Carlos might show up to the dorm exhausted and without a roommate. He looks at the singer’s face whose smile hasn’t dropped but whose shoulders have drooped slightly in disappointed. 

“Oh- of course I will!” Jay says quickly, relieved as the singer visibly perks up.

The singer waves goodbye and Jay waves back as the other turns around.

As Jay starts to turn as well, he feels himself pulled back. His instincts scream to retaliate but he finds himself frozen with a silvery mask and a warm breath by his ear as his hand is pulled down.

_ “Don’t be late.” _ a rough voice says into his ear. Jay’s suddenly not sure what was worse, the blood rushing to his face or the fact that he stands there open-mouthed and stunned as the singer pulls up the hand he dragged Jay back with and pressed an amused kiss into the knuckles. Jay stands, stunned and blushing as the masked singer smirks a bit predatorily before turning and walking away with an attractively confident swagger.

* * *

 

The crowd around Jay causes him to sway and move and clash with overheated concert goers and excited fans. Jay’s laugh is breathless and half-gone as he melts into the crowd, mind going blank, only filled by the melody of the voice onstage.

The singer reaches out to the crowd and everyone around him reaches up to the singer as one. The artist’s hand brushes past the exhilarated crowd, Jay’s own hand is outstretched, reaching for a millisecond’s worth of contact with the boy on the stage. And just like that, as the hand passes over his section, Jay feels nimble fingers press onto his palms and slip under his sleeve, pinning something between his skin and his cuff.

Jay draws his hand back instinctively, holding his wrist. Whether to keep any more wandering hands away or to make sure the paper was real, he wasn’t sure. Either way, as the venue dwindles minutes after the last song, Jay pulls out a small strip of paper with just the words, _ stay awhile -SD _ , printed on it.

Jay feels his heartbeat quicken and his palms sweat slightly as he lingers in the venue.

People drift out slowly and eventually the venue is empty save for a couple of too-exhausted stragglers. Jay bites his lip, wondering what he should do and whether the paper was a joke before a security guard walks up to him.

“You got the note?” he asks gruffly.

Jay pulls the paper out of his sleeve and shows the man. The man nods and gestures for Jay to follow and just like that he was face-to-face with his masked singer.

“Thanks Kel.” The singer says as the guard leaves with a nod. “So… hey.”

“Hey.” Jay whispers, a bit unbelieving, “Um, so, why’d you-”

Lips. on his. Pressed up. Soft, unyielding.

Jay gasps as he is pressed back into the wall and a sliver of tongue sweeps through the opening in his mouth. He groans at the feeling of warmth that blooms right on his mouth. Jay’s mind races with thoughts of  _ what, ohmygod, how, what, why, holyshit  _ when he feels the other’s hand slip behind him and settle on his lip.

The other boy’s mouth trails down his face and Jay’s head falls back onto the wall as soft lips kiss patterns down his neck. He closes his eyes and gives a low moan which causes the other to smile against Jay’s skin.

Jay’s eyes flutter close and his hand flits to his partner’s head, fingers rustling through soft curls and sweeping over freckle-filled skin, tracing constellations on porcela-

Wait. What?

Jay opens his eyes frantically with the realization of exactly  _ who _ he was imagining. Kissing him. Touching him.

He pushes back against the singer and he feels a twinge of guilt at the surprised grunt and confused-and-hurt “Huh?” that he hears.

“I think- I think I like someone already, I’m sorry I have to go.” Jay says quickly. Breathlessly. He needs to go back to the dorm and maybe sort this out or die. Whichever comes first.

He catches a glimpse of hurt in the singer’s eyes before he turns and high-tails it out of the building, hand pressed to his lips as his brain keeps conjuring images of a white-haired boy and combining them with a phantom feeling on his skin. His heart feels like it’s going to burst with the recognition of an age-old feeling that he’s sure he’s had in his bones for a long time.

He loved  _ Carlos _ .

Holy.

Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey y'all im back with your who-knows when it even comes out chapter. Y'all probably hate me for ending it there but see y'all next year I guess? (or? maybe not? ;) )
> 
> as always, hmu on tumblr @under-latest-nostalgia <3
> 
> //shout out to anon user steve who commented on the previous chapter 3 times for me to update. here's to you kid.


	7. Don't blame me / Don't hate me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally the final chapter fam, it was nice going on this multi-year journey with y'all. If any of y'all started reading this when it came out, this one's dedicated to you.

Carlos presses the back of his hand to his mouth. His breath hitches as he feels his throat tighten and he pushes his thumb in between his teeth and screams at himself not to cry.

His back slides down the wall opposite of where he just _made out with Jay._ Like an _idiot._

Even in his stupid rockstar persona, literally throwing himself full force, he couldn’t make his dumb crush look his way at _all._

He slams his head against the wall, tears of frustration threatening to fall as his lungs struggle to _breathe._ He needs to _breathe._

_Why can’t he breathe??_

That’s how Beck finds him, crouched on the ground, eyes squeezed shut, and hyperventilating over nothing. He feels his body being picked up and hugged but he doesn’t want to _think._ Doesn’t want to _remember_ or _feel._ Carlos lets his conscious fade as he hiccups Jay’s name into empty air.

* * *

Jay enters the dorm with his heart still racing. Whether from him running what he felt was ten miles in thirty minutes or from his realization that _he was in love with his best friend_. He wasn’t sure. How can he be so stupid?

He runs a hand through his hair as he tries to compose himself before he enters the room. His heart is pounding as he turns the doorknob.

“Hey Carlo-” He raises his hand in greeting but drops it immediately as he sees an empty dorm room. Carlos wasn’t here.

_Great._

Just when Jay was either gonna be an idiot and confess. Now he had to deal with his nerves until Carlos decides to show up. Or maybe he’ll just die of heart palpitations. If that was possible. Whatever. At least if he did, he didn’t have to deal with this constant _longing_ in his chest that he never noticed before. (How'd he not notice? It  _aches like a bitch._ ) Jay lets himself fall sloppily on the bed as he groans in frustration at his non-plans being ruined. He stays like that for a solid hour before he hears someone knocking aggressively on his door.

Jay opens the door and he’s on the floor.

“You asshole!”

His cheek throbs with the familiar feeling of getting punched in the face as he looks up to an angry-looking Aurodonian hissing. He's shaking his hand around like one does when they aren't used to punching people in the skull. He probably literally hurt himself punching Jay’s face from the looks of it.

“What the fuck?” Jay says, confused, as he stands and frowns at this unwelcome visitor who is glaring at him like he had murdered this dude’s dog in cold blood. Which he'd  _remember_ , Jay thinks.

“Why the _fuck_ did you lead him on, huh?” his visitor says, “You think just ‘cause he’s a rock star he doesn’t have _feelings_?”

Jay figures from context clues that this is probably one of the Scarred Devils unmasked. He honestly, genuinely, feels terrible for what he did. But. He did just realize it himself.

“I’m-I’m sorry,” he says, Jay wasn’t going to excuse himself. He did a shitty thing. Just ‘cause he didn’t know he was already in love doesn’t mean it wasn’t shitty. “I- This isn’t an excuse, but I didn’t know I liked somebody else until that moment. I just… I was suddenly thinking about my roommate and- wait why am I telling this to you?”

“Your _roommate?_ ” the other says, a hint of disbelief in his voice and some of the anger in the air dissipates. “ _Seriously?_ ”

“Uh…” Jay says, confused now, “Yeah? Not that that’s any of your business? Look. I’ll apologise, I’ll keep away, I’ll do whatever. I know I fucked up and I-”

“No. Shut up. Your an idiot. He’s an idiot.” The band member sighs, “Both of you are so fucking stupid.”

Jay frowns, now that’s just rude.

“Elliot?” his dark haired visitor calls out to the hall, “It’s fine, bring him in. Don’t punch this guy.”

He hears a faint, “Seriously Beck?” from the hall and footsteps coming up.

“Fix our friend, dumbass.” presumably Beck says, “Just confess and stop being stupid.”

Jay is dumbstruck as another person walks into his dorm, now holding a boy with a familiar head of wild curls. The person, probably Elliot, glares at him as he sets Jay’s best friend down with a familiarity that makes Jay’s gut burn. The man quietly walks out, glaring at Jay the whole way. Beck turns to him a final time, shaking his head, “Y’all both fucking stupid.”

Jay should probably take offense to that but he was more fixated with the fact that the two just asked Jay to “fix their friend” which apparently meant Carlos. Who looked like he had gone through some shit with the way his cheek was tear-streaked and his eyes swollen.

Jay walks up to the bed and reaches his hand out to either wake the other or tuck him in before he notices Carlos’ outfit.

It… it was the same as his Scarred Devil’s was. Wait. _What?_

His breath hitches as he properly inspects his best friend’s outfit, consisting of a very familiar but not in the Carlos-way jacket and pair of fingerless leather gloves.

“Fuck.” Jay whispers to himself at the realization that his best friend was the singer.

Who made out with him.

Who he pushed away.

For his best friend.

Who was here.

Who made out with him.

“Carlos, you dumbass.” Jay whispers, half-affectionately and half dripping in guilt

He crawls onto the bed beside the platinum-haired boy, brushing a hand through the other’s curls like he had imagined earlier.

“Carlos.” He says near the other’s ear, trying to nudge him awake. Jay hears Carlos murmur which Jay knows is a sign that the boy was waking up. “Carlos, come on.”

“Carlos.”

* * *

Carlos' body feels heavy. His eyes itch from the last dredges of tears drying.

“Nnn?” Carlos feels his body start to drift awake against his will, god he wished his body would stop trying to wake up _please_. He feels something warm above him and he wonders whether he fell asleep in the band van again.

“You didn’t tell me you were the Scarred Devil.”

Carlos’ eyes shoot open at the familiar voice saying some truly dreaded words. He’s somehow face to face with his best friend. Who he made out with. As Scarred Devil. Who apparently knows. That he’s the Scarred Devil.

Carlos was so _fucked_.

He struggles to get free when he realizes he’s in Jay’s grip, “I’m- fuck- I’m sorry Jay I didn’t. I didn’t know I’m- I’m sorry.”

Carlos starts babbling semi-incoherently. Apologies and excuses and wishes to be freed but Jay seems like he’s hearing none of it. Did he _want_ to punish Carlos? Not that Carlos didn’t deserve it. He made out with the guy without fucking asking like a normal person.

“Carlos- carlos! Calm down.”

He shakes his head, how can he _calm down_. He was a dick. An asshole. A class A creep. A total and comple-

“Mmf!” Carlos’ voice is muffled. By lips. Jay’s lips. Jay’s lips which he had already felt but thought would never feel again ever in his life. Jay’s. Lips. Carlos thinks his brain is pretty much short circuited.

“Better?” Jay asks, pulling back but still keeping Carlos down by his wrists.

“Wh _at?_ ” Carlos sputters, confused, “But- you-you! You said you liked someone _?_ ”

“Yeah.” Jay says with a shy grin. “Yeah, I do.”

Carlos glares, hurt, “Then? Why’d you kiss me? That’s just fucking _mean_ since you know I like _you._ Dick.”

Jay shakes his head with an amused laugh that Carlos doesn’t find very amusing.

“Your friend’s right, we’re both idiots.”

“What the fuck, Jay?” Carlos says, annoyed now.

Jay just rolls, pulling them into the reverse of their position before, Jay pinned under Carlos’ arms, “I like _you_ dumbass. I… god this is stupid… I abandoned you ‘cuz- ‘cuz I realized I was thinking of _you._ Normal you. Non-rockstar you. I love you, Carlos de Vil.”

Carlos’ breath hitches. “What?”

“I- I love you?” Jay says, a bit of the confidence draining from his voice, replaced with a hint of worry and embarrassment. “Do- was I reading this wrong? I mean, fuck, do you not like me and I’m just some dickhead who-”

Carlos kisses Jay to shut him up. Carlos thinks he’s starting to see a pattern.

“I love you too. We _are_ both idiots.”

Jay laughs, sounding shy and happy and sweet and Carlos melts internally at the usually tough-talking boy’s face flushing.

“Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for everything guys, I love everyone who's read this, who gave me kudos, who commented.   
> I'd love to add so much more to this universe, snippets and one shots and such. If you're even remotely interested you should tell me ;)
> 
> Come talk to me about jaylos or malvie or descendants in general on my tumblr!! @under-latest-nostalgia


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